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“I—”
Sultan Junior saw Zachary and threw his arms out with a loud and effusive greeting.Zachary emitted another frustrated growl.He threw her an apologetic glance.
“Excuse me.I was hoping to stay under the radar, but I guess that’s blown out of the water now.”
She waved him off, unable to keep from watching his sexy swagger as he walked away.
Dear God.On the one hand, she knew what was happening.The calm before the storm; the foreplay before the fucking.But if anyone had warned Bethany she would be this turned on by it, she’d have laughed herself hoarse.
At twenty-four, she’d had far fewer sex partners than the average woman her age, her longest relationship being with her fourth boyfriend, Chris—until his bombshell announcement six months ago.
She’d moved to New York because of him, had moved in with him at his request, and for the best part of a year, she’d fooled herself into thinking they were in the final stages of courtship before the big proposal.At first, the weekend business trips hadn’t tweaked her radar.But after eight weekends in a row and the disconcerting knowledge that she was having more sex with Dildo Pete than with Chris, she’d known something was seriously wrong.
But not even in her wildest raging nightmares had she dreamed the man she’d thought she’d spend the rest of her life with would confess he now preferred men.
“Hey, there.”
She dragged herself from Fucked Up Memory Lane to find the guy she’d seen at the check-out desk in front of her.The rest of his group had also arrived on the deck with their hostess and were checking out the view.
“Uh… hi.”She hoped her smile didn’t reveal her inner thoughts.
He held out a hand.“I’m Jackson Blaine.Friends call me Jax.”
“Bethany,” she replied, and shook his hand.His face was open and friendly, with sparkling brown eyes and a dimpled smile that set her at ease.All in all, he was very easy on the eyes.
“I’m a drummer with Friday’s Child.We’re gigging in a couple of hours on the lower deck.Stop by if you want.”
She was about to nod when she glanced past him and felt the force of Zachary Savage’s narrow-eyed stare.A shiver coursed through her, and her heart skipped several beats before it attempted to right itself.
“I… I’ll think about it.”
“Great.”Jax smiled.“That’s some view, huh?”He indicated the sky beyond the deck.
With monumental effort, she tore her gaze from Zach, but not before she saw his attention swing to Jax.
“Yes, it’s incredible.”She turned and stared unseeingly at the view, another shiver coursing through her.She didn’t need to look at him to know she was still the subject of Zachary Savage’s focus.
Beside her, Jax talked a bit.She made appropriate answers until his group joined him.Introductions were made that she barely remembered.
She managed to nod when he smiled.
“So, see you in a couple of hours?”
“Why will you be seeing him in a couple of hours?”
Zach had materialized beside her.Again he stood close, so very close, but didn’t touch her.She wondered whether he’d practiced that particular move, or whether it came naturally to him, an inherent part of his sexual aura.Whatever it was, it turned her on so damned fiercely that she wanted to growl.She, who’d never once growled in her life.
“Friday’s Child just invited me to a gig.”
His brows clamped with displeasure.“I changed my plans because of you.Mingling with the other guests doesn’t interest me.”
Again, his arrogance irritated her.But the knowledge that he’d changed his plans because of her turned her on—much more than she could rationally cope with.
Jesus, she needed to claw back some reason here, before she lost her damned mind.
“But it interests me.I promised Keely I’d try and leave my suite at least once a day.”
He stiffened and leaned closer.“Who’s Keely?”